Global
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Gunfire and explosions killed three civilians and
one policeman on Tuesday (Feb. 18) and injured more than 60 others
when anti-government protesters refused to remove barricades from
Bangkok's streets, pushing the death toll to 14 in confrontations
which have crippled Thailand since November.
The powerful National Anti-Corruption Commission meanwhile told Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday (Feb. 18) to appear on Feb. 27 to face allegations that she was negligent in a massive rice subsidy scheme in which many farmers have not been paid for their crops.
Those allegations could lead to criminal charges and a court case against Ms. Yingluck, which the protesters hope will result in her impeachment and the collapse of her popularly elected pro-U.S. government.
She has denied all accusations of wrongdoing.
In the streets, police initially used truncheons, tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters who hurled rocks and other debris while defending barricades across a wide main street in front of Democracy Monument near Phan Fa Bridge.
The powerful National Anti-Corruption Commission meanwhile told Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday (Feb. 18) to appear on Feb. 27 to face allegations that she was negligent in a massive rice subsidy scheme in which many farmers have not been paid for their crops.
Those allegations could lead to criminal charges and a court case against Ms. Yingluck, which the protesters hope will result in her impeachment and the collapse of her popularly elected pro-U.S. government.
She has denied all accusations of wrongdoing.
In the streets, police initially used truncheons, tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters who hurled rocks and other debris while defending barricades across a wide main street in front of Democracy Monument near Phan Fa Bridge.
1. War is immoral.
Murder is the one crime that we're taught to excuse if it's done on a large enough scale. Morality demands that we not so excuse it. War is nothing other than murder on a large scale.
Over the centuries and decades, death counts in wars have grown dramatically, shifted heavily onto civilians rather than combatants, and been overtaken by injury counts as even greater numbers have been injured but medicine has allowed them to survive.
Deaths are now due primarily to violence rather than to disease, formerly the biggest killer in wars.
Death and injury counts have also shifted very heavily toward one side in each war, rather than being evenly divided between two parties. Those traumatized, rendered homeless, and otherwise damaged far outnumber the injured and the dead.
The idea of a "good war" or a "just war" sounds obscene when one looks honestly at independent reporting on wars.
Murder is the one crime that we're taught to excuse if it's done on a large enough scale. Morality demands that we not so excuse it. War is nothing other than murder on a large scale.
Over the centuries and decades, death counts in wars have grown dramatically, shifted heavily onto civilians rather than combatants, and been overtaken by injury counts as even greater numbers have been injured but medicine has allowed them to survive.
Deaths are now due primarily to violence rather than to disease, formerly the biggest killer in wars.
Death and injury counts have also shifted very heavily toward one side in each war, rather than being evenly divided between two parties. Those traumatized, rendered homeless, and otherwise damaged far outnumber the injured and the dead.
The idea of a "good war" or a "just war" sounds obscene when one looks honestly at independent reporting on wars.
Ohioans were horrified to hear news stories about the spill of toxic material into the Ohio River from a West Virginia coal company. Some of our neighbors to the southeast still cannot drink their water.
What most Ohioans have not heard about is the intentional dumping of 20,000 gallons of radioactive and toxic fracking waste water into Ohio’s Mahoning River. Three tanker trucks full of so-called “brine” were deliberately pumped into a storm drain leading into the Mahoning on Thursday, January 31, 2013. More than a year later, it is still not clear exactly what chemicals the illegally disposed of waste contained.
The presence of radioactivity in the fracking waste could potentially keep Ohioans from drinking water in areas near the Mahoning River for thousands of years.
What most Ohioans have not heard about is the intentional dumping of 20,000 gallons of radioactive and toxic fracking waste water into Ohio’s Mahoning River. Three tanker trucks full of so-called “brine” were deliberately pumped into a storm drain leading into the Mahoning on Thursday, January 31, 2013. More than a year later, it is still not clear exactly what chemicals the illegally disposed of waste contained.
The presence of radioactivity in the fracking waste could potentially keep Ohioans from drinking water in areas near the Mahoning River for thousands of years.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- The U.S. military begins its biggest training
exercise in the Asia-Pacific region next week in Thailand where
Washington does "not want to see a coup" by Bangkok's armed forces
amid post-election protests attempting to overthrow a crippled
democracy.
U.S. forces team up with two of their closest former Vietnam War allies, Thailand and South Korea, in a three-team "field training exercise...designed to enhance interoperability and strengthen regional relationships," the American Embassy said, announcing Exercise Cobra Gold 2014 which runs from Feb. 11-21.
Military services from Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia join them for training "in a multinational force team that responds to a simulated scenario, executing a pre-developed operations plan."
Away from the heaviest training, military personnel from China "will participate in humanitarian and civic assistance projects designed to improve the quality of life and local infrastructure for the Thai people," alongside forces from the other countries.
U.S. forces team up with two of their closest former Vietnam War allies, Thailand and South Korea, in a three-team "field training exercise...designed to enhance interoperability and strengthen regional relationships," the American Embassy said, announcing Exercise Cobra Gold 2014 which runs from Feb. 11-21.
Military services from Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia join them for training "in a multinational force team that responds to a simulated scenario, executing a pre-developed operations plan."
Away from the heaviest training, military personnel from China "will participate in humanitarian and civic assistance projects designed to improve the quality of life and local infrastructure for the Thai people," alongside forces from the other countries.
Why is Attorney General DeWine making unfair and untruthful statements to Ohio voters? DeWine recently rejected the petition language for the citizen’s initiative entitled the “Voters Bill of Rights.” The proposed amendment would have granted Ohioans the same rights recognized in the European Union – making voting a Constitutional right.
DeWine was quoted in the Columbus Dispatch as saying he rejected the petition’s language because it failed to provide “fair and truthful statements” about matters concerning voter identification practices and voters being purged from the voting rolls due to failure to vote.
DeWine was quoted in the Columbus Dispatch as saying he rejected the petition’s language because it failed to provide “fair and truthful statements” about matters concerning voter identification practices and voters being purged from the voting rolls due to failure to vote.
“The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.”
This is how we talk about learning, growth and the human future?
Things are getting worse in the American classroom, not better. The experts and the special interests purporting to fix the educational system are continuing, instead, to asphyxiate it.
The grandiose quote, above, in which “our young people” show up as abstractions needing to be prepped for some simplistic, highly competitive imaginary future (fully understood by the experts), is part of the mission statement of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, the Obama administration’s showcase education reform initiative.
This is how we talk about learning, growth and the human future?
Things are getting worse in the American classroom, not better. The experts and the special interests purporting to fix the educational system are continuing, instead, to asphyxiate it.
The grandiose quote, above, in which “our young people” show up as abstractions needing to be prepped for some simplistic, highly competitive imaginary future (fully understood by the experts), is part of the mission statement of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, the Obama administration’s showcase education reform initiative.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Tens of thousands of protesters are attempting to
"shutdown Bangkok," blockading streets and crippling banks,
businesses, and government ministries while authorities do little to
stop the campaign to topple the elected government and replace it with
appointed technocrats.
The American Embassy e-mailed a security alert to U.S. citizens in Bangkok, advising them to stockpile a "week’s supply of cash … [and] two-week supply of essential items such as food, water and medicine."
The embassy's alert, published in local media, fueled some panic buying.
At least eight people died in clashes during the past few weeks leading up to Monday's (Jan. 13) start of the blockade, and one protester was shot in the neck before dawn.
Throughout the day, festive protesters at seven key intersections and on dozens of main streets blew loud whistles, danced to live bands, photographed themselves in selfies, and listened to speeches by leaders atop huge makeshift stages.
Tens of thousands of protesters laid blankets and woven mats on the streets to sleep in the open during the warm dry weather or in small tents.
The American Embassy e-mailed a security alert to U.S. citizens in Bangkok, advising them to stockpile a "week’s supply of cash … [and] two-week supply of essential items such as food, water and medicine."
The embassy's alert, published in local media, fueled some panic buying.
At least eight people died in clashes during the past few weeks leading up to Monday's (Jan. 13) start of the blockade, and one protester was shot in the neck before dawn.
Throughout the day, festive protesters at seven key intersections and on dozens of main streets blew loud whistles, danced to live bands, photographed themselves in selfies, and listened to speeches by leaders atop huge makeshift stages.
Tens of thousands of protesters laid blankets and woven mats on the streets to sleep in the open during the warm dry weather or in small tents.
I'd like to insert a joke about "freedom is on the march!" here but am too disgusted to do it. I just received a lengthy report from Dr. Muhamad Al-Darraji, President of CCER (Conservation Center of Environmental & Reserves), Fallujah City, Iraq.
It documents the attacks of the past year on the people of Fallujah by the government of Iraq. The U.S. government has rushed weapons to the Iraqi government for this assault. A petition opposing further U.S. arms sales to the government that decades of U.S. violence left behind in Iraq is here.
The U.S. has moved, over 30 years, from arming a brutal government in Iraq, to attacking it, to bombing and sanctioning that nation, to utterly destroying it, and back full-circle to selling weapons to a brutal government left behind by yet another nation-building humanitarian war that built no nation and ripped humanity's heart out to stomp it in the dust.
It documents the attacks of the past year on the people of Fallujah by the government of Iraq. The U.S. government has rushed weapons to the Iraqi government for this assault. A petition opposing further U.S. arms sales to the government that decades of U.S. violence left behind in Iraq is here.
The U.S. has moved, over 30 years, from arming a brutal government in Iraq, to attacking it, to bombing and sanctioning that nation, to utterly destroying it, and back full-circle to selling weapons to a brutal government left behind by yet another nation-building humanitarian war that built no nation and ripped humanity's heart out to stomp it in the dust.
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Thursday February 6th the Ohio Roller Girls held a Roller Derby scrimmage session at the south east side warehouse that serves as their home. It was a warehouse full of ordinary people working extraordinarily hard to become the undisputed mistresses of a difficult contact sport. Ohio Roller Girls is Columbus's grassroots, up by their skates-straps, entry into the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
Founded as a league in 2005, the Ohio Roller Girls eventually moved to a two-team organization focused on inter-league play against the All-Star charter teams fielded by leagues in other cities. In this respect they have represented Columbus well, becoming a regional powerhouse, perennial championship contender and division I stalwart where they are ranked against such tiny unknown cities as New York, London and Los Angles. The hometown heroines begin this season ranked 22nd in the world after finishing 8th in last season's championship tournament.
Along with a night of hard scrimmaging went a night of hard training, with drills on blocking tactics taking up almost an hour before the jams begin.
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If there’s anyone who can sympathize with what the Kenyon College mens basketball team went through in a 78-60 season-opening loss to Ohio Wesleyan University on Nov. 20, it is Robby Rinehart, a post for the Battling Bishops.
Every time the Lords seemed to have a clear path to the basket, they found themselves running into the palm of Bishops senior post Reuel Rogers. The 6-foot-7 post blocked a school-record nine shots, breaking his old Ohio Wesleyan record of eight set in a 67-64 win over Denison last year.
“There are times (in practice) when you think you’re going to get off a shot. He’s so long and so quick. He can be far away from you and (suddenly) be right there,” says Rinehart whose team improved to 17-4 overall after defeating Kenyon 68-65 on Feb. 8. “I’ve gone against him in practice for three years now, so I’m kind of used to it.”
“(The Kenyon game) was early in the season and they didn’t know what to expect from me,” Rogers adds. “They tried to drive it down the lane and I was able to disrupt it.” Kenyon found out what other teams are quickly discovering – Reuel Rogers is a devastating shot blocker.